Environmental collection box

ABSTRACT

A container having a bottom, a continuous side wall, and an open top with a rim including an inwardly and downwardly inclined flange and an abutment terminating the flange; with a rigid flat closure of the shape of the rim and flange, said closure having a diameter greater than that of the flange at its inner edge and less than the diameter of the rim, said closure distorting the flange and having a friction fit therewith when pressed into it, the abutment serving to prevent the closure from being pressed too far into the container. This container may be made for the purpose or it may be made by cutting the top out of a discarded beer or soft-drink can.

United States Patent [1 1 Gauthier, Jr.

[111 3,768,689 51 Oct. 30,- 1973 ENVIRONMENTAL COLLECTION BOX [76] Inventor: Joseph Gauthier, Jr., 69% Pearl St.,

Webster, Mass. 01570 [22] Filed: Apr. 24, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 247,155

[52] US. Cl. 220/24 A, 220/42 B, 229/5.6 [51] Int. Cl... B65d 39/00, 365d 41/00, B65d 43/00 [58] Field of Search 220/24 A, 42 B;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,144,194 1/1939 Murison .Q 215/41 X 2,767,754 10/1956 Lederer et al. 1,833,030 11/1931 McClatchie 220/24 A Primary Examiner-George T. Hall Attorney-Charles R. Pay

[57] ABSTRACT A container having a bottom, a continuous side wall, and an open top with a rim including an inwardly and downwardly inclined flange and an abutment terminating the flange; with a rigid flat closure of the shape of the rim and flange, said closure having a diameter greater than that of the flange at its inner edge and less than the diameter of the rim, said closure distorting the flange and having a friction fit therewith when pressed into it, the abutment serving to prevent the closure from being pressed too far into the container.

This container may be made for the purpose or it may be made by cutting the top out of a discarded beer or soft-drink can;

7 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 7 PATENTEUUCI 30 m5 FIG.

FIG.

FIG

ENVIRONMENTAL COLLECTION BOX BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION vehicles at the side of the road. This invention has a two-fold object in ameliorating both problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A container e.g., a beer or soft drink can, when empty, is cut in its end portion to remove the top leaving a rim with an annular flange that extends downwardly and inwardly and preferably also leaving a small annular hook or projection as an inner terminal edge for the flange. A rigid slotted circular disc is pressed into the flange, this disc having a diameter greater than the terminal edge of the flange and less than that of the rim. This disc presses the flange uniformly outwardly and is held by the friction between its edge and the now slightly distorted flange. The disc is adapted to come to rest on the hook or projection as an abutment. The disc is well below the rim in this position, the width of the flange'from the rim to the terminal edge thereof being several times greater than the thickness of the disc, and the disc is lodged in the flange so that it is very difficult and next to impossible to pry it out.

To open and reuse the collection box thatis the subject of this invention it is necessary to invert it and propel it vigorously downwardly, hitting the floor or other solid object. The inertia of the coins in the box pop the disc out of the flange and are thus easily recoverable. The disc is then replaced in the flange as before. The distortion of the flange by the disc is slight and the box can be used many times over in the same way.

A used can is not necessary as containers may be made especially for the purpose if desired.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top plan view of an open box;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the box closed;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a closure;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view on line 4-4 of FIG. 1; and FIG. 5-is a sectional view on lines 55 of FIG. 2.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION A can or box has the usual bottom'and side wall and has a partial top member 12 crimped onto the edge of the wall at 14. This top member 12 has a flange 16 that extends inwardly and downwardly of the rim formed by the crimp, and this flange terminates in hook or projection 18. The can or box is preferably cylindrical and the rim, flange, and hook or projection, are preferably annular. The material may be coated steel,

aluminum, other metals, plastic, etc., or any material suitable.

A rigid disc 20 with a coin reception slot 22 has a diameter greater than that of the flange at its junction 24 with hook or projection 18,.and less than the diameter of the flange at its junction 26 with rim or crimp l4.

This disc is pressed down onto the flange, FIG. 4, to come to rest or substantially so on the hook or flange which is thus an abutment for the disc. In so doing the entire flange is pressed slightly outwardly and thereby grips the disc edge by friction, see FIG. 5. The disc can- I not be pried out by the fingers and even a lever thrust into the slot 22 has to have so much leverage to dislodge the disc that the can or box is crushed by the effort expended.

To open the box, it is inverted and pounded on a table or on the floor, e.g., and the inertia of the coins inside pops out the disc. The coins being recovered, the disc is pressed back on as before and it holds for many re-uses because the distortion of the flange is slight for a powerful hold, and it tends to recover to some extent when the disc is removed.

These collection boxes can be made at a fraction of the cost of the conventional boxes at present for sale and can be re-used many times, thereby making the cost per collection extremely small.

Also, many otherwise dumped and useless cans may be re-cycled as disclosed herein for a long and useful life after being emptied of the original contents.

This box may also be used as a personal bank and is easy to paint and decorate. Also, the disc can be punched to leave a burr about the edges at the underside, and this helps prevent coins from being shaken out.

I claim:

1. A box comprising a bottom, a cylindrical side wall, and an open top defined by a rim,

a partial top member on the rim, a flange on the top member, said flange including a wall extending inwardly and downwardly with respect to the box rim at an incline to the side wall, the flange wall being of even thickness throughout and being resilient and distortable,

said flange thereby having an outer wider edge portion at the top of the wall and an inner lesser edge portion at the bottom of the wall,

a closure, said closure comprising a rigid coplanar circular disc having an edge conforming to the flange and having a diameter less than the wider edge portion of the flange and greater than the lesser edge portion thereof, said closure being press-fitted to the flange wall and held in position thereby, by friction only of the circumferential edge of the coplanar disc with a surface of the wall.

2. The box of claim 1 including an inward projection on the flange at its lesser edge portion, said projection forming a part of an original lid for the top, removed 5. The box ofclaim 4 wherein the flange is in inward extension of said crimp.

6. The box of claim 1 wherein the closure is of thicker material than the wall of the flange.

7. The box of claim 1 wherein the box is a used beverage container and the major portion of the original top .has been cut out and discarded, resulting in the presence of the flange. 

1. A box comprising a bottom, a cylindrical side wall, and an open top defined by a rim, a partial top member on the rim, a flange on the top member, said flange including a wall extending inwardly and downwardly with respect to the box rim at an incline to the side wall, the flange wall being of even thickness throughout and being resilient and distortable, said flange thereby having an outer wider edge portion at the top of the wall and an inner lesser edge portion at the bottom of the wall, a closure, said closure comprising a rigid coplanar circular disc having an edge conforming to the flange and having a diameter less than the wider edge portion of the flange and greater than the lesser edge portion thereof, said closure being press-fitted to the flange wall and held in position thereby, by friction only of the circumferential edge of the coplanar disc with a surface of the wall.
 2. The box of claim 1 including an inward projection on the flange at its lesser edge portion, said projection forming a part of an original lid for the top, removed prior to application of the closure.
 3. The box of claim 2 wherein the closure rests on the projection, the latter positioning the closure at least in part within the flange wall adjacent the lesser edge portion thereof.
 4. The box of claim 1 including a crimp on the top member securing the flange to the rim.
 5. The box of claim 4 wherein the flange is in inward extension of said crimp.
 6. The box of claim 1 wherein the closure is of thicker material than the wall of the flange.
 7. The box of claim 1 wherein the box is a used beverage container and the major portion of the original top has been cut out and discarded, resulting in the presence of the flange. 